I went to get fitted for new irons yesterday, and it was fairly close between the S55s and the AP2s. I was much more consistent with the S55s and they felt amazingly solid, even when I caught one low in the face. Plus I was blown away by the Ping custom fitting system, std length and purple dot for me 😊
I appreciate what you said in this video and the one you did on the Mizuno MP15s. I'm a 13 now, used to be 9, and am swinging now like a 20+ (long story). But I just bought a set of MP 69s because I love the traditional look. When I'm swinging well or poorly, I don't see the wide range of loss between my MP 69s, my old MP 32s, or the Cally X16s I used to have. But when you hit them well...man...there is nothing like the feel/sound/flight...I just love it and it presses me to be better and be consistent. Thanks for the video and effort in your reviews and swing tip vids.
hit the s55s for a few hours last week, theres not much of a feel off the face at impact but they are a nice iron to look down at and seemed very forgiving for a club that is quite thin
I use the Ping s55 irons and absolutely love them. I switched up from the s56 model. The main difference I noticed (functionally) is the s55 irons are stronger, except for the 4 iron which is actually weaker by I think .25°. This doesn't affect me though because I dumped the 4 iron in favor of a 23° Anser Hybrid earlier this year because I wasn't hitting the 4 iron consistently enough for my liking. Mark mentioned Bubba playing these irons and he's correct; Hunter Mahan also games these irons.
Great review Mark - I agree that all recently reviewed clubs produce similar results - there are no outstandingly preforming clubs anymore. The only variance is the golfer providing inconsistent strikes and how clubs deal with those kind of hits.
I find myself drawn to the S55s every time I'm in a golf store... Just gorgeous in my opinion. Mark, do you have any thoughts on the Maltby playability factor (MPF) system? He always ranks the S series surprisingly high for playability, certainly compared to the way their marketed.
Mark great review! I have the S55's with KBS Tour V 120x SS 1x they are solid, however my dilemma is the offset in the longer irons. I find the 3,4,5 irons have too much offset. Now I am looking at Taylormade TP MC, or might go back to blades. You would think Ping creating this S55 would have made less offset being a blade. I consider the S55 a near game improvement iron's offset, in a cavity back design, that is the head size of a blade.
CFS vs KBS Tour 120. Night and day. I know Mark doesn't put a lot into shafts but I play the S55 with KBS, but with CFS they were stone cold UNPLAYABLE for me. High, spinny, and short. The S55's come alive with the right shaft.
Mark, Why do you not discuss the shafts that each manufacturer uses in the irons. Surely that plays a role in the Launch monitor statistics. KBS Tour 110 vs Ping vs Dynamic Gold so on.
Completely agree, when i got fitted for my irons, i loved both the S55's and the TM cb's, and only went for the tm's due to the project x shaft giving me the extra bit of performance
Taylormade 5 iron 26°, Ping 5 iron 27°...there's your 3 yards. There is nothing really new in clubs, but moving the weight around does have an effect. These facts, however, have little effect on all us golf equipment fetishists.
Interesting - definite theme appearing over your recent tests - there are no better clubs - the performance is so tweaked by all the modern manufacturers to approach regulation that you may as well go with brand loyalty - as a better player, you are seeing variability in strike as the dominant factor - the gross variability of an average player will make any differences irrelevant ;-)
For what it's worth, I'm a very slightly better than average player who's owned and played probably more than 10 sets of irons in the last 18 months (it's a sickness lol) and I think you're pretty much spot on. Not saying they're all the same because they're not, but I've come to the realization that at the end of the round score isn't going to be changed all that much by what's in the bag.
Must admit that what most changed my game for the better this year was replacing my set wedges with tour quality wedges, which is a very cheap upgrade that anybody can do but, I think I need the extra help of the chunky game improvement irons - the difference these wedges make from the rough around the green is astonishing - they seem to cut through anything :-)
Dave H, he always says lets get stuck in. Mark, I'm 17, love your videos. They've helped me very much. Keep up the good work! Thanks
I went to get fitted for new irons yesterday, and it was fairly close between the S55s and the AP2s. I was much more consistent with the S55s and they felt amazingly solid, even when I caught one low in the face. Plus I was blown away by the Ping custom fitting system, std length and purple dot for me 😊
I appreciate what you said in this video and the one you did on the Mizuno MP15s. I'm a 13 now, used to be 9, and am swinging now like a 20+ (long story). But I just bought a set of MP 69s because I love the traditional look. When I'm swinging well or poorly, I don't see the wide range of loss between my MP 69s, my old MP 32s, or the Cally X16s I used to have. But when you hit them well...man...there is nothing like the feel/sound/flight...I just love it and it presses me to be better and be consistent. Thanks for the video and effort in your reviews and swing tip vids.
hit the s55s for a few hours last week, theres not much of a feel off the face at impact but they are a nice iron to look down at and seemed very forgiving for a club that is quite thin
I use the Ping s55 irons and absolutely love them. I switched up from the s56 model. The main difference I noticed (functionally) is the s55 irons are stronger, except for the 4 iron which is actually weaker by I think .25°. This doesn't affect me though because I dumped the 4 iron in favor of a 23° Anser Hybrid earlier this year because I wasn't hitting the 4 iron consistently enough for my liking.
Mark mentioned Bubba playing these irons and he's correct; Hunter Mahan also games these irons.
Great vid as usual... When we getting the Mizuno jpx 850 forged... would love to see a JPX EZ forged v JPX 850 forged match up... Thanks Mark!
Nice to see some old school Crossfield comparison!
Great review Mark - I agree that all recently reviewed clubs produce similar results - there are no outstandingly preforming clubs anymore. The only variance is the golfer providing inconsistent strikes and how clubs deal with those kind of hits.
I find myself drawn to the S55s every time I'm in a golf store... Just gorgeous in my opinion.
Mark, do you have any thoughts on the Maltby playability factor (MPF) system? He always ranks the S series surprisingly high for playability, certainly compared to the way their marketed.
Gota be TM TP CBs, player looks with game improvement features, love them
Mark great review! I have the S55's with KBS Tour V 120x SS 1x they are solid, however my dilemma is the offset in the longer irons. I find the 3,4,5 irons have too much offset. Now I am looking at Taylormade TP MC, or might go back to blades. You would think Ping creating this S55 would have made less offset being a blade.
I consider the S55 a near game improvement iron's offset, in a cavity back design, that is the head size of a blade.
Great video Marc! Your tips are always helping me improve my game! Sent my video in through your app can't wait to hear back! :)
Both compelling clubs. My launch numbers did not justify buying either. Ended up with Rocketbladez HL and finally broke into the 80's.
CFS vs KBS Tour 120. Night and day. I know Mark doesn't put a lot into shafts but I play the S55 with KBS, but with CFS they were stone cold UNPLAYABLE for me. High, spinny, and short. The S55's come alive with the right shaft.
Mark, Why do you not discuss the shafts that each manufacturer uses in the irons. Surely that plays a role in the Launch monitor statistics. KBS Tour 110 vs Ping vs Dynamic Gold so on.
Completely agree, when i got fitted for my irons, i loved both the S55's and the TM cb's, and only went for the tm's due to the project x shaft giving me the extra bit of performance
Matthew Richardson Shaft selection is critical in Irons but in a driver it's the difference between fantastic and horrible.
Taylormade 5 iron 26°, Ping 5 iron 27°...there's your 3 yards. There is nothing really new in clubs, but moving the weight around does have an effect. These facts, however, have little effect on all us golf equipment fetishists.
that hat must be wrank hahaha - don't think iv ever see you wear a different hat hahah
i like some help with my clubs but i really hate thick soles like g30 irons
I would go the taylormade sldr irons then, nice looks with forgiveness
yeah, but i think i will go with callaway x2hot
What does he always say? Lets get what?
I wouldn't use the Taylor made irons because they make to many
Interesting - definite theme appearing over your recent tests - there are no better clubs - the performance is so tweaked by all the modern manufacturers to approach regulation that you may as well go with brand loyalty - as a better player, you are seeing variability in strike as the dominant factor - the gross variability of an average player will make any differences irrelevant ;-)
For what it's worth, I'm a very slightly better than average player who's owned and played probably more than 10 sets of irons in the last 18 months (it's a sickness lol) and I think you're pretty much spot on. Not saying they're all the same because they're not, but I've come to the realization that at the end of the round score isn't going to be changed all that much by what's in the bag.
Must admit that what most changed my game for the better this year was replacing my set wedges with tour quality wedges, which is a very cheap upgrade that anybody can do but, I think I need the extra help of the chunky game improvement irons - the difference these wedges make from the rough around the green is astonishing - they seem to cut through anything :-)